


As Real As It May Seem

by WickedWonder



Category: Cinderella (Fairy Tale)
Genre: F/M, Frivolity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-25
Updated: 2013-12-25
Packaged: 2018-01-06 01:21:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1100761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WickedWonder/pseuds/WickedWonder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once upon a time, there was a girl. There were lots of unique things about her. Her foot size wasn't one of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	As Real As It May Seem

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sundaydriver](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sundaydriver/gifts).



Once upon a time, there was a girl. She sometimes felt as if she was all alone, even though she was almost never alone. She despaired quietly and sometimes bemoaned her fate, but she had an excellent poker face. One day, there was a wish, and then there many things in quick succession, leading to the Ball. It was grand, as Balls usually are, and she danced with the Prince, who really was quite charming. Then the clock struck midnight, and she ran as if she had been instructed. She ran so fast that she left a shoe behind, but she considered that a price for having such a wonderful thing happen. Besides, dancing in glass slippers was really quite dangerous and she was glad that she hadn't snapped a heel. By the time she got home, she was tired from the walk, but feeling like she might never need sleep again. She danced and twirled through her empty house, laughing at her foolishness but quite unable to control herself. She settled into sleep that night with a smile on her face, already dreaming of waltzes.  
The next day, the proclamation went out, telling of the Prince and the mysterious maiden that had quite stolen his heart. The unmarried women, young and old alike, of the kingdom were lined up at the castle, to try on the slipper that had been left behind. The first young woman that tried it on slipped right into the slipper as it had been crafted for her. As the servant, overjoyed at his good luck, prepared to declare her the true owner of the shoe and the Prince, her sister begged to try it on. It fit her foot the exact same way. With a growing suspicion, the servant had their mother try the shoe on. When it fit her too, and the next five women behind them, he sighed and thought privately that this was what happened when over half of the kingdom were related in some fashion. He went back and informed the Prince.  
"Huh," was the Prince's answer. "I guess I should've asked for her name."  
Meanwhile, Cinderella, the person in question, was most emphatically not in the long line. Her stepmother and sisters had left right after the announcement had been made, and while she could've certainly gone and put enough distance between them to be undetected, she had looked around and decided that what she wanted the most was peace. She left her house and walked along a path in the woods that was well worn and familiar. Walking slowly, she took in the stillness around her and the way that the sunlight broke through the trees here and there.

"Hello."  
She whirled around, heart in her throat. There was a man standing next to a tree behind her, arms outstretched and hands open. "I didn't want to startle you," he said apologetically. "You seemed lost in thought."  
"I was," she agreed. She smiled politely, ready to make her excuses and head back home.  
"This is a good place for thinking," he continued. "I like to come out here when there-" he jerked a thumb back toward the town- "gets a little too confining."  
Cinderella secretly felt a little skeptical about his claim. He looked as rough as any man in the village, tall, big, bearded. The blue eyes were different, though, and she found herself wanting to hold his gaze.  
''Do you, ah, come out here often?" she asked, still feeling him out.  
"When I can. What about you? Aren't you supposed to be at the palace anyway?" He squinted at her. "All the girls in town are lined up to try on a shoe for the Prince."  
"I'll pass on the cattle call, thanks," she answered, wrinkling her nose. Something about the way the Prince had spread the word had just seemed weird. Besides, what kind of a doof needed a shoe to recognize someone they'd spent an evening with? She might want out of where she was at, but not quite that badly. He snorted. "What do you plan to do then?" "I don't see anything wrong with what I'm doing now," she pointed out, and as she said it she realized he could read something different in her comment than she intended. She waited for his reaction, and was surprised when the man flushed, red rising quickly in his cheeks. Not knowing if she had embarrassed or offended him, she smiled again, a little more warmly. She started to apologize, but then he smiled too, which transformed his face from slightly forbidden to gentle, so gentle that she walked forward, closing the gap between them. "My name is Cinderella," she said. "Andrew," he replied. "Do you want to keep walking?" She nodded, and they started down the path together, and began.


End file.
